The implications of mobbing in the educational process

The implications of mobbing in the educational process Andrada-Iulia GHEȚE Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Engineering, Economical Engineering Department, Engineering and Management field andrada_iulia1988@yahoo.com Keywords: mobbing, bullying, harassment Abstract In industrial relations, works, or rather, it should work the principle of equal treatment of all colleagues, and employers under the Labor Code provisions. Any direct or indirect discrimination based on criteria like gender, sexual orientation, genetic features, age, nationality, race, color, ethnicity, religion, political option, social origin, disability, family situation is prohibited. For this type of moral harassment the term used is mobbing and through this paper I tried to expose this superficially treated phenomenon, by conducting a study for determining the students opinion regarding mobbing. 1.Introduction Is mobbing another term neglected by us, either by omission, carelessness or ignorance? Why should we be interested in this type of harassment? Because, in Romania and in other countries of the European Union (cf. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) millions of people are subjected to this type of harassment through erroneous exercise of a function or abuse of office daily. 2. What is mobbing? The man who launched and imposed this term in workplaces, is the Swedish researcher Heinz Leymann., who noticed this kind of unhealthy and hostile behavior. He soon became the worldwide expert in mobbing in the workplaces. At the human level, Heinz Leymann (1996) preserves the term for the set of psychological aggression, injustice, defamation, psychological harassment, professional disparagement and mockery actions in an organization. Psychological harassment or mobbing affects (statistically speaking) more than 12 million employees annually in the EU. Definition: Mobbing is a repeated irrational behavior, against an person or group of employees, constituting a risk to health and safety. Mobbing may involve erroneous exercise of a function or abuse of office, against which affected individuals may find it difficult to defend. Who is the harasser? According to [N. Bouchard, "Resolving conflicts at work"]: "Harassment is a type of cold, treacherous, hypocritical, sometimes practically invisible violence that a person can exert over another... The harasser is a weak person, egocentric, hypocritical. If he feels threatened and has the power, he will attack. " What are the harasser s motivations? Processes that determine an individual to harass a victim are multiple: a) Refusal of atypical aspects related to a group b) Rivalry, Envy, Jealousy (i.e. diplomas, privacy, relationships with the hierarchy); 1

c) Fear, that makes the one who harasses to develop a defense system and a strategy of destruction if he feels threatened. Finally, aggression has previously been shown to be a common reaction to shaming experiences such as humiliation and ridicule. Similarly, there is evidence for the associations between social status and aggressive behavior. How does mobbing evolve? Mobbing usually takes place in several stages: - The choice of victim (generally not a group but a certain person) - Conditioning the victim (the victim must become receptive) - Destabilizing the victim ( the victim does not understand what is happening: the person harassing behaviors are not logical and, anyway, his explanations are irrational) - Culpability of the victim (the individual harassed begins to imagine it has some of the blame for his suffering) - Dissolution of the victim (the person who harasses has achieved his aim: the victim has resigned or became seriously ill). 3. Awareness of mobbing The differences between European cultures can determine the difference between the levels of mobbing in European countries. More than this, the legal system and laws, together with the awareness of this phenomenon, vary from one country to another. Harassment is mentioned in the national legislation of 17 European countries. However, in many countries, legislation covers only sexual harassment, and is often based on the laws of equal treatment. Sexual harassment has an official definition, for example, in Bulgaria, France, and Romania. In some countries, like France, Finland, and Sweden, there is a special law, or special sections, in the law about harassment/bullying. Of those countries which have no separate legislation, only Italy plans to develop such legislation. Even though, in many countries, there is no specific legislation on workplace violence, there is usually a more general law on safety and health or equal treatment that covers the different aspects of work, both physical and psychosocial work environment. There is no doubt that legislation is what prevention of mobbing is concerned, but it is not the only important thing in combating this phenomenon. 4. Methodology The idea of analyzing mobbing was founded by Leymann, when he developed the well known LIPT Questionnaire (Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror), for helping his patients. In May 2010, I developed a survey on the basis of a marketing research at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu with the purpose of determining the acknowledgment and frequency level in a medium state university of Sibiu, the Romanian town who was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2007. The research is consisted of a statistical analysis of SPSS with more than 100 questionnaire survey at the Engineering Faculty of Sibiu. The questionnaires were analyzed following several steps. The Pearson Chi-Square indicates that there is a significant relationship between the two variables the strength of that relationship. Phi was used in a case of a two variables, each with two levels (2 x 2). Cramer s V was used for all other situations. The descriptive statistics told the total number of cases and the number of cases within each cell. Regarding the respondents, the percentage in which 2

gender is concerned, was equal: 50 % male, 50% female respondents and the ages were between 19-23 years old. 5. Data and analysis Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 3

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7. Conclusions regarding the survey at the Faculty of Engineering Charts which showed a strong connection from the crosstab analysis were highlighted, according to Cramer function. As a first conclusion, we note the existence of particular problems in the department of Economical Engineering; therefore further study will be developed under this section for proper and accurate identification of the causes of situations that produce mobbing phenomenon. As a second conclusion, referring to the wishes of students, I propose establishing a department inside university, with qualified staff to provide students with advice and support in this problem and also training in conflict management, victim support and the procedure for filing a complaint. 8. Effects and measures against mobbing Mobbing is causing considerable stress to victims, their families and friends. In some cases, victims are unable to operate normally at work and cannot have a normal life. Harassment can cause post-traumatic disorders based on stress, loss of self-esteem, anxiety, apathy, irritability, impaired memory, sleep disturbances and digestive problems and even suicide. Symptoms may persist for years even after harassment ends. In an organization, harassment can cause a high level of absenteeism and increased turnover, reduced efficiency and productivity. Legal damages caused by harassment may also be high. It is important to take early action to prevent harassment. First, you need to make a risk assessment to help identify appropriate measures. This may include making an anti harassment policy, training in conflict management and leadership, redesigning the work environment and support for victims in cases of harassment (eg counseling and compensation). Success factors in dealing with harassment include: - Commitment from the employer and employees to promote a working environment free of violence; - Establishing consequences of harassment and sanctions from it; - Specifying where and how victims can get help; - Explain the procedure for filing a complaint; - providing details concerning advice and support services, and confidentiality; Awareness and recognition of mobbing need to be promoted. Awareness and recognition, as well as knowledge and know-how of mobbing, differs considerably among EU countries and among organizations. If the awareness and recognition of the problem is not adequate, resistance to interventions may appear. Mobbing needs to be seen as a work environment problem. Prevention and reduction should concentrate on reducing the risks of mobbing in the psychosocial work environment, paying attention to psychosocial risks, the atmosphere in the workplace, organizational culture and leadership practices. Management interventions are essential in the prevention of mobbing. Managers also need to be given training on the responsible and legally sound management of mobbing cases. On this level the following methods could be listed: - Information and education on harassment (mobbing) and its consequences; - guidelines containing information on the nature and extent of the problem and its effects on health and quality of life; - code of ethics charter with indications that the company will not tolerate unethical acts and discrimination; 7

- Contracts terms should be included in the contracts, regulating the matter and applying sanctions for any breach of the rules. 9. General conclusions As long as countries like Sweden, France, USA, Canada, Japan have conducted studies and debates about the phenomenon of mobbing and adopted laws, civil and criminal sanctions for such attitudes, worldwide it can be considered that there is a high level of understanding this phenomenon, which caused the public to believe that it is appropriate to require specific legislation. Legally speaking, in Romania only sexual harassment is incriminated and there are no laws regarding mobbing. As the European Union Directives are regarded, there is a lack in this respect, because their provisions only cover a wide range of discrimination problems (disabilities, female-male, religion, race, etc.) so that including mobbing in these is generic and interpretative. However, the Constitution states the fact that "No one shall be subjected to torture and any kind of punishment or inhuman or degrading treatment.'';" Any person may appeal to the courts for protection of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests "and constitutional rights and liberties shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 10. References [1] Cioca, L. I., Moraru, R. I.- Psychosocial occupational risk management, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Publishing House, Sibiu, ISBN 978-973-924-3, pp. 318, 2010; [2] Cioca, L. I., Moraru, R.I.- The importance of occupational health and safety in the framework of corporate social responsability, Management of Sustainable Development Journal, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Publishing House, Sibiu, Romania, Vol. 2, No. 2, B+, ISSN 2066-9380, 2010; [3] Cioca, L. I., Human Resource Management - Applications, Sibiu, 2002; [4] EUROPEAN COMMISSION - Guide on stress at work "Spice of life - or kiss of death?", 1999; [5] Essenberg, B.- Violence and stress at work in the transport sector, International Labor Organization, Geneva, 2003. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/transport/wp205.pdf [6] Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions-The third European survey on working conditions 2000, Luxembourg, 2001; [7] I. Graham Mopping up mobbing legislate or negotiate?, Labor Education 2003/4, No 133; Violence at Work, International Labor Organization, Geneva, 2004. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/publ/133/11.pdf [8] Malgorzata Milczarek, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-OSHA, Workplace Violence and Harassment: a European Picture, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, ISSN 1830-5946, 2010; 8